Aftermarket Radio Install: Need help now

Ok heres the deal: I just picked up a newer Pioneer cd player from a friend of mine who had it installed in a saturn. He had it professionally installed, so when I pulled it out, I noticed that the wires that werent used on the harness plugging into the pioneer were capped off. These wires were:

yellow: battery I think (don't you need this?)
red: auxilary?
blue and white: no idea

All the rest of the wires were hooked up, and I bought the factory adapter so I wouldnt have to chop off the factory harness. I hooked up all the wires:

black (ground)
white
purple
green
grey
etc....

I didn't use orange, brown, or blue. Not needed as far as I know, and there were none of those colors coming from pioneer harness.

Heres my problem: I am getting no power at all to the unit. I plugged everything in, and nothing. Not when the key is in acc. or started. What did I do wrong here? I know the damn thing was working when I pulled it out. Don't I need to connect the yellow wire for power? Why the fuck was it capped off if I need it? HELP ME OUT!

What do you mean you hooked up all the wires? Are you using a harness? Get some instructions, or at least another pioneer's instructions because they are probably the same.

the blue and white were for power antana and the remote for amps.

red is usually the main power wire...


but at any rate start small... check the fuse 90% of the time that is what is wrong. unless you acctually took off the "-" termenal lol.

your yellow and red wire are power wires.

most people forget to ground the black (ground) to the car.

Yeah i had grounded the black wire to a metal screw. That's good enough right?

I am using 3 harnesses. The stock harness that plugs into the stock radio, the harness adapter that plugs into the stock harness, and the harness that plugs into the pioneer cd player. I am connecting the wires from the pioneer harness to the harness adapter.

If the red and yellow wires are power, then why were they capped off when I pulled them out of the saturn? I saw the cd player working perfectly in his car. That dosn't make sense, wouldn't he need to have those wires connected also? How was he getting power to his unit?

I don't know if this will help

When I cut my wires to hook up my radio I noticed that the factory red wire was my yellow wire and the factory thick light blue wire was my red.

yes the screw is good enough for the ground. Well is is for me.

Take a look here, everything should be explained http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Mitsubishi-Wiring.pdf

Take a look here, everything should be explained http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Mitsubishi-Wiring.pdf

I did not cut off the factory harness. I went and paid the $14 for the factory harness adapter. It's a thing where u can plug it into the factory harness, and it color codes the wires to match the wiring on the aftermarket. That way all you do is match up colors, instead of figuring out what each wire is for.

I hooked up the red wire. This did nothing. Now the only wires not hooked up coming out of my pioneer harness are blue/white and yellow. I'm starting to run out of options. There is no power to the unit at all. The fuse on the unit itself is still good, and there is nothing blown in the car, because I reconnected the stock head unit to make sure. Stock unit gets power. Any ideas?

The yellow wire on aftermarket decks is usually the +12 Volt battery wire, and the red +12 volt ignition wire. Try connecting the yellow wire from the deck to the red w/black stripe wire. Even if you still have the harness hooked up, the link in my last post is a good reference. If you took a good look @ it you would have found out that the yellow wire you didn't connect is your problem. Over the past 10 years i've gone through 6 decks, and the wires on all of them where colour coded as installDr states (Where it say's "Typical new radio equivelant wire colour")

The yellow wire on aftermarket decks is usually the +12 Volt battery wire, and the red +12 volt ignition wire. Try connecting the yellow wire from the deck to the red w/black stripe wire. Even if you still have the harness hooked up, the link in my last post is a good reference. If you took a good look @ it you would have found out that the yellow wire you didn't connect is your problem. Over the past 10 years i've gone through 6 decks, and the wires on all of them where colour coded as installDr states (Where it say's "Typical new radio equivelant wire colour")

What is the difference between the +12 volt battery wire and the +12 volt ignition wire? I will go and connect the yellow wire tomorrow morning. Should I keep the red wire connected? Since I'm using the factory harness adapter, I won't be connecting it to the red/black stripe wire, but I will find out which color it is on the adapter (It should be yellow). I have one more question because this is really bugging me:

How did my friend have it hooked up and it ran perfect with NO yellow and NO red wires connected? This really stumps me. Neither were connected when I pulled it out of his car.

Thanks a lot for your help. :smokin:

There are only like 4 wires that aren't for speakers: Power, ground, dimmer, amp remote. Any more slip my mind. Power should be red, ground black, dimmer orange or yellow although I never connect this, amp remote is usually blue/white.

We are talking about wire colors from an aftermarket radio to an aftermarket wiring harness, so there are no eclipse specific colors involved.

You need power AND ground for the thing to turn on. Once it's on, if you don't think the colors are matching, plug in the SOLID and SOLID/BLACK meaning positive and negative for each speaker and test them. Use the radio's fader/balance and figure it out... not that hard.

There are only like 4 wires that aren't for speakers: Power, ground, dimmer, amp remote. Any more slip my mind. Power should be red, ground black, dimmer orange or yellow although I never connect this, amp remote is usually blue/white.

We are talking about wire colors from an aftermarket radio to an aftermarket wiring harness, so there are no eclipse specific colors involved.

You need power AND ground for the thing to turn on. Once it's on, if you don't think the colors are matching, plug in the SOLID and SOLID/BLACK meaning positive and negative for each speaker and test them. Use the radio's fader/balance and figure it out... not that hard.

I think there is some confusion here on the whole harness thing. This is what it looks like:

Factory harness plug that I didnt cut - Factory Harness Adapter plugged into the factory harness - wires connected with Pioneer wiring harness

I have the red connected, and the black is grounded to a screw. The only colors not connected are blue/white and yellow. There are no orange wires coming from the pioneer wiring harness. There are several unused wires coming from the adapter I bought:

solid blue
brown
orange
orange/white stripe
yellow

Tomorrow I will connect the yellow wires, and hope this gives me some life in the unit.

I don't have a digital camera, so I will try to take pictures on my phone and transfer them to my computer and upload them. They might be kinda shitty and small, but it's worth a shot.

Ok disregard everything that you've heard because I'm going to walk you throug this step by step. OK to answer your question about the the red and yellow wires. Red is usually ACC +12V that means that it is connected to the accessory +12V which is run through your ignition switch. That is what turns the radio on with the car so that it's not on all the time. Next the yellow wire is your constant +12V source. This is a direct connection to the + terminal of the battery. This constant +12V is what allows the memory of your CD player to work after you turn the switch off for the Ignition (programmed radio stations, current playing track and so on). On the wiring harness that you bought to fit onto your stock harness there should be a connection for both of these. The ground you have is good as long as it's connected so that it can't come loose. It is vital to connect both the red and the yellow wires because you cannot operate without both connected. I need you to post or pm me a listing of what the instructions say that the color codes are for the adapter that you bought. Next I need the model number of the Pioneer that you bought and if you can find it, there are usually wiring diagrams on a sticker on the top or bottom of the radio that explain the color codes for the specific wiring harness that the radio uses. List those as well if you can find them if not I'll try to find them for you. After that I can walk you the rest of the way if you still need help.

...dimmer orange or yellow although I never connect this...

Your dimmer will never be yellow and most aftermarket stereos don't come with a dimmer anymore

Wow, this was excellent help. The adapter that I bought came with no directions on what color was what, it just came in a plastic bag with some brand name on it. That was it.

The model pioneer that I have is deh-p7400 (kind of old, but couldn't pass it up for $50). I didn't see any color coding sticker on the unit itself. I have a friend who has the deh-p750, but he couldnt find the instructions for it, and the guy I bought mine from lost them a long time ago. I really appreciate your help. I will go and connect the yellow wire right now, and see if that works.

OK I have power! And everything seems to work.

Is the antenna supposed to stay down when the radio turns on?

How the hell do I mount this thing? I can't find any screw holes on the sides of the unit.

You guys have been a big help so far. I'm almost done. Thanks.

Ok disregard everything that you've heard because I'm going to walk you throug this step by step.

fuck you. make your signature way smaller, too.

Is the antenna supposed to stay down when the radio turns on?
any vehicle with a power antenna will have a wire for this on it's aftermarket harness. On the bag with the harness should be a list of wires and what they are for.

by the way, i must have no idea what i'm talking about, although I just installed a pioneer deck in my 97 talon yesterday.

Ok guys, relax, his directions were very good. Yeah his sig. is fuckin huge, but oh well.

It's all done. Mounted and everything. Works good. Still can't figure out why the power antenna doesn't go up and down, but I will mess with it somemore later. Don't wanna fuck up anything just yet, it's working.

BTW, you don't use half the shit that comes with the mounting pocket. Got the generic import multi-use piece of shit from walmart, brand was Scosche or something like that. And the shit you do use, was designed for a toyota. Go figure. It's printed on every piece you use. And the pocket was so god damn narrow, I can barely fit my cell phone in it, let alone grab it out. Not a happy customer, but I guess it works.

Thanks for everyones help, saved me atleast $35.

Your welcome.



I thought huge sig was HUGE also. Like mine was a few days ago.